Three Seals

As the first layer of sunlight enfused the whole earth, the people of Relmaur started their daily activities.

In a small house, Ryan was sitting crossed legs on his bed, his eyes closed. He was meditating, trying to focus on the mana that surrounded him.

It had been five days since Ryan had been in the dungeon and discovered the power of his new magic attribute. He had been spending the past few days practicing and honing his new magical abilities.

The night before, Ryan had felt something inside him bursting to come out, but he was too exhausted from the day's practice to pay much attention. All he wanted to do was get some rest and sleep, so he quickly went back home and fell asleep.

So, at the new morning, Ryan decided to find out what was the feeling he had experienced the night before.

As he breathed in and out, he felt the mana circulating inside and outside his body. He started to search for a possible reason for the feeling he had had the night before.

He tried to focus on the mana inside him, attempting to understand the strange power of his second magic attribute. But it was not easy; his second magic attribute seemed to be very chaotic and, as if it didn't want to be tamed.

As he continued to meditate, he felt the mana around him become stronger and more powerful. He started to concentrate on the mana, and he could feel the energy swirl around him like a tornado. He could sense the energy coalesce into something tangible, and suddenly three circles of glowing runes appeared in the air around him.

Ryan slowly opened his shining red eyes and looked at the circles, "So this is the seal that the mysterious entity talked about!?"

Remembering the entity's words, Ryan realized that the three circles of glowing runes were the seal that he had been looking for.

Ryan thought to himself, "Am I supposed to break it? But how?"

Despite the mysterious entity's words, Ryan was hesitant to trust it. After all, the entity was a complete stranger and he had no way of knowing if the entity's advice was trustworthy.

But he decided to believe it for now, as it had indeed helped him to gain more power than he had before.

With a wave of his hand, Ryan summoned his grimoire, and with a determined look on his face, he said, "Let me try first."

He stood up, and with a wave of his hand, he gathered the purple mana around his hand, and in next second a ethereal purple long sword materialised in his right hand.

Ryan held it with both of his hands and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy radiating from the Sword.

With a determined look on his face, Ryan raised the ethereal purple Sword and slashed it onto the first layer of the seal.

SLASH!

BOOM!

As soon as the blade made contact with the seal, the dark purple aura around it burned like fire, engulfing it in a mesmerizing light.

"Agrrgh..."

But as soon as the blade touched the runes Ryan instantly felt a pressure like a thousand needles piercing his body, causing him to drop the Sword which disintegrated in the next second and stumble back a few steps.

"Hah-hah... what the fuck!?" Ryan muttered as he looked at the glowing runes. As if it had been an illusion, the three circles of glowing runes instantly disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

"How the hell am I supposed to break it?" he thought to himself.

Despite asking himself the question, he knew deep down that the only answer was to become even stronger.

Sighing, he put the matter at the back of his head and started his daily activities. He knew that the only way to break the seal was to become stronger, so he focused on his training and honed his skills.

He brushed his teeth and took a warm bath, feeling the tension in his body slowly wash away. Afterwards, he grabbed a snack and headed towards the forest, determined to become stronger.

Everything that he was doing was being observed by the dead-eyed anti-magic bird, which nested on the window of Ryan's house.

Ryan himself had been observing this bird for quite a while now; he didn't know what it wanted, but Ryan was actually not bothered by it.

Instead, he quite liked the little guy, who seemed to be the only one he could see in this house. Eventually, he started to feed the bird, and the bird also didn't peck at him as often as before.

...

Several more days passed in this manner, Ryan slowly honing his skills and mastering his abilities. He would spend his days training, gathering herbs for his source of income, and increasing his strength through training.

As he practiced, he gained new spells and techniques. He also came to know more about his second magic attribute, which seemed to enhance his previous [Sword Magic], making it somewhat more potent than before.

Ryan can't say that even if he gained the mana he currently has without the influence of his second magic, it would be as potent as his current magic.

As of right now, Ryan was walking on the path in the village knowingly.

With a bag filled with herbs on his back, Ryan set off towards the old man's house to submit the herbs in exchange for payment.

The payment was enough to cover his food and other necessities for the day. He had been gathering herbs for the old man for months and the old man had been very generous in return.

The old man used the herbs for medicine and created a variety of concoctions and remedies to help heal the sick and injured.

It was not that much of a business in places like the Royal Capital, but for the small villages it was very important as they lacked access to medical services.

As Ryan arrived at the old man's house, he noticed a cart outside, loaded with items. He could see the old man loading the cart with items, likely preparing for a journey.

Ryan thought to himself, "Hmm? Where is he going?"

He approached the old man and struck up a conversation, curious to know why the old man was going on a journey.

"Hey, old man Harvey, are you preparing for a journey?"

As Harvey saw Ryan coming, he gave a small smile. "Ah, young Ryan," said the old man.

"Indeed, I'm going to the village nearby for the delivery of medicine."

Ryan was surprised to see the old man taking on the task himself.

"Hmm? Is there something special about this delivery that you are taking it on yourself? Usually, the village sends someone else for this."

The old man smiled and replied, "Well, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some exercise and fresh air. Plus, I think I'm getting old and want to live free. I've been feeling kind of cooped up lately, so I thought I'd take a little trip and stretch my legs. I even started hallucinating. You remember the dungeon I talked about? When the magic knight got there, there was nothing there. I guess that's what they mean when they say 'I'm getting old and need to rest more."

Ryan awkwardly smiled, not sure what to say.

The old man sighed and looked at Ryan, "Say, young Ryan, do you want to come with me?"

Ryan was taken aback by the old man's offer.

"Me?" he asked skeptically.

He had been wanting to leave the village for some time but hadn't had the opportunity.

The power he had cultivated until now was significant, and he could only roughly guess that he was currently stronger than newly joined Magic Knights.

He was not guessing based on mana pool alone, but on the basis of overall fighting power. In a real fight, mana was not the only factor; techniques, magic attributes, fighting experience, etc., also mattered.

But in a small village like Relmaur, he couldn't gauge how deep he was in the water, let alone gain fighting experience.

As a solution, Ryan had decided to reattempt the Magic Knights examination.

The Magic Knights squads offered various means and resources through which a magic knight could grow their magic power and combat ability.

Ryan could feel that with his current combat power, he could easily be selected in any of the Magic Knights squads.

But the Magic Knights examination was still four months away from starting again for the year, so Ryan could only wait and train himself.

Yet, he still wanted to experience this new world and explore it more deeply.

Even though a part of his soul belonged to this world, the previous Ryan didn't like to travel around, so he didn't know many things outside the village.

Ryan's first time leaving the village was when he was 15 and attempted to join the Magic Knights.

Just after that, he started to travel around a little. But now, wanting to gain more experience in this fantasy world, Ryan wanted to explore it in more detail. He thought this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"Of course," said the old man with a smile. "And you can be of great help to me. It will be a fun journey for both of us."

Ryan smiled, feeling excited about the opportunity.

"Okay then, I'll pack a backpack and meet you right away!" he said. It didn't bother him to help old man Harvey.

He then quickly ran off to his house to grab the necessary supplies for the journey.

As they made their way through the village on the carriage, an Anti-Magic bird flew and sat on his shoulder.

Ryan didn't say anything as the three made their way out of the village.